Monday, November 26, 2012

An old friend called today asking about my journey so far. Asking how my symptoms started, and how I went about getting diagnosed. Turns out that she is going starting the process of finding out if she has MS or possibly one of the other conditions that can mimic MS and is in the wait and go crazy phase. I was happy to help in any way I could, though it wasn't really a lot. Just a bunch of "this is how it started", "this is what my dr. did", but I hope some of what I said made her feel like what she is feeling right now is normal and isn't crazy. I would like to ask you all to keep her in your thoughts and prayers. Send her good vibes and wishes, whatever it is you believe in, because she could use it right now while she is starting the overwhelming process of just finding out WHAT is going on.

I have a 3 month check-up tomorrow. I have been on a full dose of Betaseron for 7 weeks. It hasn't been easy and the side effects aren't letting up a whole lot. I am eager to speak to the doctor about that and the increase in some of the symptoms that I have been having. So if you could end me some good thoughts, too, I would appreciate it.

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. I hope everyone did whatever it is that they wanted today, whether that is shopping, watching football, working overtime for extra money or eating food until you never want to eat again. I hope you got to at least spend time with people that you care about. We had dinner with our dear friend, Katie, and her family. And I can't thank them enough for having us.

I have been seeing posts all over Facebook and other social media sites where people post each day during the month of November something that they are thankful for. "30 Days for Thanks." I think it sounds like a great idea in theory, but not something that I can keep up with. Every other day would probably be, "I'm thankful it is not shot day." You guys would start defriending me and threatening to shove needles in my eyes.

There are some things that I am thankful for, though. I want to take this opportunity to spout my 30 days of thanks into one post...The last year has given me a lot to be thankful for. These things I would be thankful for anyway, just more so now.

I am thankful for my babies. I have the three most amazing beautiful girls in the world. They are smart and funny and helpful. They have driven me crazy at times, but have been more helpful lately and a lot more loving and quick with a joke or hug if they think I need it (even if I don't and am just trying to remember what I was doing).

I am thankful for my family. My mom and dad and siblings. Even from 3000 miles away, I know they love me. Goofy texts and messages that make me laugh and calls just to check on me. My mom hopped on plane at the end of August and surprised me and my dad bought the plane ticket. Just because she needed to see me.

I am thankful for my friends. I have some of the greatest friends a girl could ask for. Some near and some far. They have helped out however they could without thinking twice. They have kept me sane and slapped me around when I needed it, and just let me vent if I needed that.

I am thankful everyday that I get up and can walk and can see. I have pain in my legs, and have fuzzy vision some days, but as long as I CAN see and do not need help getting around, then I chalk it up as a win for the most part. THOSE things would come with a much larger learning curves.

Most of all, I am thankful for my husband, Chad. I love him and he is my soulmate. We might not be perfect, but we are perfect for each other and I do not know what I would have done without him the past year. He has taken care of me in so many ways and a lot of men would have run the other way when the going got tough. I don't thank him nearly enough, and have been seriously cranky lately, but I am so thankful for him and love him with all my heart. I hope he has some inkling of how much he means to me.

So, while I may not do 30 days of thanks, I mean mine with all of my heart.

Friday, November 16, 2012

Not that I know what that is. I am running on a severe deficit. This time of year is always super busy for me. Combine school schedules with Halloween, then Hannah's birthday, then Thanksgiving, then Courtney's birthday, then Christmas and throw in a couple of vendor events...October through December are the craziest, most exhausting months of the year for me.

My oldest baby, Hannah, turned the ripe old age of 12 last weekend. Time goes way too fast. I remember vividly that newborn smell and how fuzzy her hair was. Other than a couple of months of colic, she was the most even tempered baby. Then she never threw a fit when she was a toddler. She was honestly the most well-behaved child. She threw her first fit when she was FIVE and it was because she was tired and I wouldn't let her lay down and take a nap, not because she was getting candy or tv or a toy...a NAP. I remember it like it was yesterday because I was shocked and ended up laughing at her and stopped my shopping to go home and let her take a nap because I thought if she was acting in a way she had never acted before because she wanted a NAP, then she must REALLY need one.

Now she is this amazing, smart, beautiful young lady who is brilliant-straight, near perfect 100's in all of her classes and freakishly artistic. She has taught herself to play the guitar and sew and knit and crochet...She draws and makes jewelry. She doesn't even need me, she is self-sustainable. Next I am going to see if I can get her to make bracelets while knitting with her toes, playing the guitar with her elbows and drawing while holding the pencil between her teeth. THAT would be phenomenal. She might be able to get her own show on TLC. I might need to change her name to something more catchy, more marketable. I'm gonna have to think on that. Until I come up with something, I am just going to refer to her as Hannah Boo Boo.

Hannah Boo Boo wanted to have a sleepover and go to the EMP museum and eat at Beth's Cafe for her birthday. The other two munchkins went off with a friend the morning after the sleepover and we made the trek into the Emerald City. HBB and her friends M & K saw the sites of the museum, which for any music and/or science fiction geek are a must if you are in Seattle. I love looking at stuff that was actually used by anybody famous in an actual movie or tv show or on stage during a concert. It makes it even better if it was somebody or a movie or show that I really like. There was a big Nirvana exhibit which we had seen before but could still take our time enjoying, and numerous exhibits including a sci-fi exhibit that were new. Hannah had her picture taken with a Dalek from Doctor Who. That made her happy. After leaving there, we went over to Beth's, where Hannah proceeded to order a 6 egg omelet with ham and cheese served on hash browns with a blueberry muffin. She ate every bite of the muffin, all of the omelet and started on the hash browns. I can only assume that turning 12 worked up her appetite. All in all it was a successful and low-key birthday. I am pretty sure the girls did no drugs during their sleepover, the alcohol cabinet was not tampered with and they were in bed by 1:00. When I went to bed, they were playing Scrabble, yes Scrabble. And they were up by 8:00 to eat and get ready to leave for Seattle. Yeah, I've got myself good kids. *knockonwood*

Obligatory picture of my beautiful Hannah Boo Boo.

UPDATE: So, I got a text from my baby sister yesterday. "Hey! I thought I was your oldest baby....:/" Evidently she thinks that because I was 15 when she was born, people repeatedly ask if I am her mom and I toted her around like she was mine a lot of the time, that she did actually burst forth from my loins and I was a teenage mom. I kid, that is just how close we are. I am more like a second mom than a sister in a lot of ways. And I love you, APC! Though, imagine if I were actually her mom! And I had given her to MY MOM AND DAD to raise. Now THAT is just the type of show that TLC would go for, Forget Hannah Boo Boo! TLC- Trainwreck Loving Channel! A is in college now and doing amazing and I am SO proud of her. The show might get in the way of her studies. We might want to wait to approach the network until she's done.

*No, APC is not my daughter that I gave to my mom and dad to raise. She really is my sister. I wanted to stick with the TLC theme. Ali Boo Boo has a certain ring to it, don't you think? Wasn't that a cartoon?